Various types of schedule managers, address managers, and similar applications are now used in personal computers (PCs). Using a schedule management application, data can be added, changed, or deleted, to be saved in a database in a storage device, such as a hard disk drive of a PC, for display by a user in managing schedules.
Schedule data or address data stored in a database of a PC can be duplicated for use in a handheld information device such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), so that identical information to that in the PC can also be used in the handheld information device.
In the case that data is duplicated between such devices, however, if data in one device is modified, corresponding data in a corresponding device must be updated. This process is referred to as a synchronization process where data stored in databases of subject information devices are updated via data communication.
In carrying out data synchronization, in each of the devices, an existing schedule data state in a database is compared with past schedule data state as of completion of a last previous synchronization operation. If a change in data in one device is detected, a corresponding data change is made in a corresponding device. In this way, respective databases of the information devices can be updated as required.
However, the conventional art used for effecting a data update operation between corresponding devices suffers from the drawbacks as follow:
If synchronization of a large amount of data is to be performed between corresponding devices, a complicated data processing operation must be used.
Further, if data synchronization is to be carried out between devices employed in an organization such as a company, data are stored in a database server or similar device of a Local Area Network (LAN). In a LAN, a plurality of networked PCs share data stored, typically, in a server database. In the case that a user of, for example, a PDA, wishes to synchronize, for example, schedule data between the PDA and one of a plurality of PCs connected to a LAN, a limitation exists that the operation can be performed between the PDA and only a specified PC connected to the LAN. To date, no technology has existed which will allow a user of, for example, a PDA to perform data synchronization with any of a plurality of PCs connected to a LAN.
The present invention has been made with a view to overcoming this problem of the prior art, and has as its object the provision of a data updating method by which it is possible to avoid, in the case that a large amount of data for synchronization exists, the need to conduct complicated data processing in carrying out an update operation. In addition, the method of the present invention makes it possible to perform a data updating operation between an external information processing device and any of a plurality of network-connected information processing devices. The present invention also provides an information processing device for implementing the method.